Pieces of Our Lives
by Slytherin Cat
Summary: Cygnus Black III. A father, a brother, a husband. A part of the Black family, one of the most secretive families in the magical world. Five (and maybe more) pieces of his life.
1. A Daughter's Treason

This OS is written for the Snake and Ladder Challenge (Andromeda Tonks), the 'Your Favorite House Bootcamp (emptiness) and the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black Competition (Cygnus Black III). All these can be found on the HPFC.

**Pieces of Our Lives: A Daughter's Treason**

Cygnus felt empty for the first time in his life. This wasn't supposed to happen like that; their sweet little Andy wasn't supposed to leave them that way, only leaving hate and despair behind her instead of joy and laughs like she usually did.

Andromeda had always been the most open-hearted of their three daughters. Ever since she was young, she wasn't afraid to say what she thought and to fight for what she wanted, something she had inherited from her grandmother, Irma Black born Crabbe who had been a proud Ravenclaw. That trait was so strong in the little black-haired girl that for a while Cygnus and his wife, Druella, had been afraid she would end up in Gryffindor. And everybody in the Black family knew what being Sorted in that House meant.

For the Blacks, red and gold equaled banishment. Cygnus, though he didn't show it often – after all he was a Pureblood and had to be dignified by all times – loved his children. No matter how they behaved, he loved them. He liked to think that he wouldn't have cared had his daughter been Sorted in Gryffindor, but he thanked the gods every day for not having to find out.

Andromeda, like her two sisters, had been Sorted into the Slytherin House and though she settled quickly into her House, everybody knew she hadn't let go of her ideals. Andromeda, the only child they had named after a constellation, had always been a dreamer. She believed in peace and equality. Her sister, Bellatrix loved bloodshed but Andromeda hated it. The strange thing was that the two sisters could probably easily pass as twins should they try it.

They used to play with this likeness, back when they were young and still talked to each other.

Cygnus probably would never know when it started, this… romance with a Muggle-born. Until she told them herself, he would never have guessed. Though she often argued with her aunt Walburga about Muggle-born's rights to have magic, he would never had thought that she actually spent time with one.

He should have known, though. Bellatrix had been telling them just that for the past year but he – no, they – had thought it a farce, a petty revenge between sisters. When Andromeda had denied, they had believed her and left it at that. Now he wished he had spent more time with his little girl.

Maybe if he had been more attentive, had shown more love she would have stayed with them, with her family instead of running away like she did.

She only had the courtesy to send a letter. And what letter!

_Dear Father and Mother, _

_If I write this to you it is to tell you we probably won't see each other ever again. As you know, I have finished Hogwarts. Well, I won't be coming back. Kreacher already sent me everything I needed, and my husband will provide us a home. I wish you could meet him, but I know you won't._

_Goodbye,_

_Your daughter, Andromeda._

He had crumpled the paper and then smoothed it a hundred times, but each time he did, the words looked at him with the same harshness. His daughter's nice, curly letters only pictured resolution and he knew she wouldn't come back on her word – though he desperately hopped that she lied.

It was a false hope. He knew that. Andromeda never lied, and the scream his wife had had when she saw the updated Family Tree was a proof of this fact.

The name Andromeda Black was tied to the one of Ted Tonks. But the worst part was that the young man didn't have any relatives showing up on the Tree like usual. Of course he didn't, he was a Muggle-born.

As he stared at the –too rapidly – consuming fire, he knew he had never felt such emptiness in his life.

A piece was broken, gone, and she would never come back. And selfishly, or maybe without knowing it, Andromeda had damaged the whole puzzle that day.


	2. Of Siblings and Rings

This OS is written for the Of Blank and Blank Competition, the Favorite House Boot Camp (prompt 29: dawn) and the Noble And Most Ancient House Of Black Competition (Cygnus Black III) on the HPFC.

Hope you like it, and don't forget to review :p

**Of Siblings and Rings**

Cygnus was sitting in silence on the Black Lake's shore. The name was really fitting and it reminded him of his family and their manor. There was a lake there too, though it was smaller and less… well Black in a sort of strange way. He remembered playing there with his brother and, sometimes, when their mother allowed it, his sister Walburga, though she seemed persuaded that such activities were beneath her status.

Those had been simpler days, when they had still been close. Now Walburga was withdrawn and he didn't saw her as often, even though they lived in the same Hogwarts' house – Slytherin, of course, it was the best after all, and Blacks would settle for nothing less than the best. She wasn't the small, adorable little girl he had known and though he knew that it was what was expected of them – to grow up and be proper Blacks, proper Heirs to one of the greatest Pureblood families in the magical world – he wished that sometimes they could turn back time, even for a few minutes. Come back to when his big sister had been nice and actually spent time with her siblings.

Of course he was proud of his heritage, of his history and of his family and of course it disgusted him to see how Muggle-borns and even more and more of Half-Bloods were ignoring this, but sometimes he wished life could be easier.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the older boy sitting next to him until he felt a hand on his arm. He jumped and drew his wand until he realized just who exactly was there.

"Alphard, what are you doing there?"

"What, do I need a reason to come see my little brother now?" Alphard had always been the more carefree of the three of them and Cygnus had always envied that. Of course it might also be a mask to hide behind, seeing as Alphard was the Heir, the one who would lead their family after Pollux, their father, died. God only knows how many masks the Blacks had, and how skilled they were at wearing them.

"Yes." Was Cygnus simple answer as he turned his gaze back to the slowly fading stars. The day was coming…

He knew he was acting maybe a bit like a child, but his brother had always been the only one with whom he could let his guard down, even a little and who wouldn't judge him.

"Hm… Let's just say that I saw you all alone down here and I decided that you shouldn't be left to your own thoughts too long. After all, you wouldn't want anyone to notice you meeting from the dormitory, right?"

Though Cygnus knew his brother was joking, he could hear the worry in his voice and also the slight warning. After all, they were Black and had a reputation to uphold.

"Don't worry. I had no plan on stay here for so long. And this place is quite well hidden. By the time somebody notice my absence from the Common Room I can be in the Great Hall, eating my breakfast calmly."

"I don't worry" Cygnus couldn't help but smile slightly at his brother indignant tone and send him a knowing look – the one with the arched eyebrow that irked him so much – until he grunted the closest thing he would ever say to a confession.

A comfortable silence settled between the two siblings as they stared in the lake. Cygnus resumed his fiddling with the diamond ring his mother had given him for his sixteenth birthday. He would remember what she said all his life.

"_You're sixteen now Cygnus, almost a man. And as a man, as a proud black you must marry."_

"_Who?" He had asked, resigned._

"_Druella Rosier. A very fine woman. I think the two of you will get along just fine."_

"_If you say so" What else could he say? That he didn't want to marry someone he had only seen from afar, talked with only twice in his life? But he couldn't do that. He knew what happened to those who defied the Family's will, and it wasn't pretty._

"_There –" she handed him a beautifully crafted ring. A small diamond sparkled almost mockingly at him as he admired the work of art it was. "- give this to her when you propose. Her father is okay with this, and she knows."_

_And just like that, with a last proud smile, she left him standing with a ring in his hand. It had taken him a few seconds to understand what exactly had happened to him, but when he did he hid carefully the emotions away._

_He was a Black after all, and Black weren't allowed to show weaknesses – one of the first lessons he had learnt._

Of course his brother noticed what he was doing. He chuckled until Cygnus shut him up with a dark look.

"I see Mother is playing matchmaker with you too."

Cygnus stopped playing with the ring.

"I don't…"

"You don't what?" His brother was suddenly serious and had he not known him so well he would have been surprised.

"I don't want to marry like this. I want what Mother and father have. I want a relationship like that, I want to be with someone I choose for the rest of my life."

"I understand."

"You do?"

"Of course. Do you think you're the only one who'd prefer to have a choice? And at least you don't have the future of the family on your shoulders."

"You're right. So what do you think I should do?"

Alphard gave a dark laugh. "Marry her."

"But you said…"

"Buy another ring, the one you would choose for that special someone you would spend your life with. And hide it. This one, the one Mother gave you? You give it to her, the one _she_ chose. And if you ever change your mind well then you change the ring. Harden your heart, little brother, because there's no other way."

Cygnus nodded and looked upon the ring with a new look. Where he had seen perfection he now saw flaws, where he had seen beauty he now saw what could have been and what could be instead.

"Now come on, we'd better leave before everyone's up."

The ring buried in his hand, Cygnus didn't look back as they walked away from the lake and as the dawn came.

It was a new day, there was no use looking behind.


	3. Meeting The (Future) Wife

OS written for the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black and the Favorite House Boot Camp (prompt 2: lost) on the HPFC.

Enjoy, and don't forget to review :)

**Meeting The (Future) Wife**

The 'first' time he met her, it was pure luck. He was actually lost in the corridors, because he had had to avoid a group of Gryffindors who thought themselves better than the rest and liked to prey on anyone they considered inferior to them – meaning mainly Slytherins. He had been walking alone at the time and had ducked behind a tapestry as soon as he heard their boisterous voices.

Of course, there had been a secret passage behind it and he had ended up Salazar knows where, which was why he was now lost and trying to find back his way back to the Slytherin Common Room before the curfew.

He couldn't afford getting caught outside after curfew after all, what would his parents say? What would his mother say? He could already hear her… _This is not a proper Black behavior Cygnus! You should be more like your brother Alphard. He is a very fine pureblood wizard,_ him_. _If on she knew how his brother truly was when away from their home! She would be in for quite a surprise if his brother chose to be truthful about himself one day…

Not that he would ever tell her anything about that - or that she would believe him anyway. It seemed that the tradition of knowing how to keep a secret that run in their family wasn't as good as the adults thought. Or maybe it was just a Black thing to disagree in silence and never show your true feelings…

Cygnus couldn't believe that in a few months he would leave Hogwarts – most probably never to return – and would lose even that small loophole in his family's strictness. He would be married but wouldn't be able to say anything. Maybe that was why marriage where arranged when the future spouses still hadn't reached their majority. To stop any idea of rebellion…

That didn't matter anyway; there was nothing he could do. He would marry the woman his parents wanted him to and hope she wasn't too horrible – though from what he had seen of her in the Common Room, she fortunately seemed nice but a little strict.

He turned left at the end of the corridor – he was slowly but surely getting closer to his goal – and there she was. She wasn't in any dangerous situation, she hadn't been attacked, didn't seem lost and had no apparent motive to be here.

And yet there she was, wearing the Slytherin uniform like it was a Ball dress costing a hundred Galleons. Druella Rosier – future Mrs. Black – looked like a true pureblood, poised and expecting the respect of her pairs. He could see why his mother had chosen her, and she really had a kind of beauty that he could find appealing.

Maybe this marriage wouldn't be so bad then… He thought as he walked toward the other Slytherin and introduced himself. Yeah, he could get used to this…


End file.
